One million Britons have pets stolen

07 May 2008

Research shows 26% of those surveyed have had pet stolen

A survey by Sainsbury’s Finance has revealed that an estimated one million Britons have had their pet dog or cat stolen in the past five years.

The poll was carried out across a sample of 1,557 people, who were chosen to represent UK demographics and found that 129 people had lost a pet over the five year period.

Of the 129 people, 26%, or 33 individuals, said they believed their pet had been stolen.

According to a spokesman for Sainsbury’s Finance, if you apply this percentage to the rest of the population then it would equate to over a million people having had their pet stolen.

Steve Johnson, Sainsbury’s head of pet insurance, said: “It’s difficult to know the full scale of dog and cat theft because it’s impossible to know for sure if the cat or dog has been stolen, lost or suffered an accident.

“The scale of the problem is also underestimated because it’s not always reported to the police – only 12% of people who have lost their pet over the past five years actually notified them.”

Those attempting to find their pets used a variety of methods:

71% asked their neighbours for help
44% put up posters
13% placed an advertisement in the local newspaper
40% informed the RSPCA or another local dog or cat rescue centre

If you are worried about finding your pet if it goes missing, you may want to consider pet insurance cover which will help pay towards advertising costs to help you find your pet. Additionally, you may want to buy cover which will pay you the purchase price of the animal in the event of loss.

Click on the link to compare pet insurance